UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

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Lavanda
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UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 11:22 am

Has anyone else had a Civil Service Pension Overseas Pensioner — Declaration of Entitlement form to fill in?

Mine was posted on 24th December 2019 (yes, really) and got to me yesterday, 17th January 2020 via France. I have six weeks since date of postage to reply.

The form invites me to declare that I still believe I am entitled to my Civil Service Pension.

Interesting.

I had thought, years ago, that I was entitled to NHS care, having paid in for 35+ years but we all know that is not how it works and I am entitled to nothing. Is the Civil Service Pensions going the same way I wonder? Boris Johnson is a lying snake (for me lying snakes come across all sides of the political world) and I don't have a good feeling about what's coming our way when he runs out of money and wants to keep the Northern Working Class vote onside.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby olive » Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:12 pm

Surely you are eligible for your CS oension until you die?

Is this just a letter testing if you are still alive or a prelude to maybe civil service pensions being taxed in your country of residence?

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:39 pm

Absolutely no idea, Olive. The form is very simple, my signature that I believe I am still entitled to the pension, and a space for a witness name and address. I rang the number on the letter for further clarification and there are numbers and options dedicated to this 'Entitlement to Civil Service Pensions" connecting to the department for this very subject. The young woman I spoke with said they were very busy and would appreciate a return by scanning the form and sending it to the e-mail address they provided in the letter. Failure to send back the form in time would mean the pension would be stopped (until the form is sent back, presumably).

If I knew how to post a scan of the form on here I would do it ...

My pension IS already taxed in the UK as is all Civil Service pensions.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Free at Last » Sat Jan 18, 2020 12:47 pm

I received the same letter, Lavanda, also dated 24 December but mine arrived a couple of days before yours. I've scanned it and sent it back via email.

I wouldn't read anything sinister into it. In my opinion it's just a "proof of life" form which almost all pension schemes require pensioners to complete periodically as a means of preventing pensions being claimed fraudulently after someone has died. I get one every couple of years from another former employer's pension scheme, and my husband gets one every single year from a Local Authority pension scheme. All the forms have a different title, this one just happens to be called a Declaration of Entitlement. Unlike the Local Authority ones, at least the CSP one doesn't have to be signed and stamped by a bank, lawyer, doctor or similar.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:03 pm

Ah! Thanks for that, Free at Last. That's good to know.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Wicksey » Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:35 pm

Ditto for me, same letter exactly and I have also scanned it and sent it back by email.

Seems a fairly simple form as my OH (who was local government) had to go and collect a generous 10 quid that his pension provider sent via Western Union in order to prove his identity and that he was still alive! He also gets one from a private pension provider every few years to show he still exists, so nothing out of the ordinary.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 1:48 pm

Good. I'm just a deeply suspicious person when it comes to government anything these days.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby peteroldracer » Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:03 pm

AFAIK all pension providers try to check that the pensioner is still alive and living at the same address. My OH got the same letter (signed,scanned & emailed back) and I have had them in the past from a pension provider.
It is a bit of a farce really, as if said pensioner has died and their other half kept quiet about it so the money keeps coming this simple form will not detect it. To be of any use they should demand better proof, but this would be a right PITA!
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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:50 pm

:lol: I did ask the young woman I spoke with if the witness to my signature could be my OH and she said that it could be anyone.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby gerryh » Sat Jan 18, 2020 3:55 pm

peteroldracer wrote: To be of any use they should demand better proof, but this would be a right PITA!
I agree that a letter had to be signed wouldn't prove I'm still alive.
That is why my pension provider sent me £10 via Western Express.
I had to go to one of their agents who checked that the name on my passport was the same as the name on the payment slip. The address I had to show was the same as on the payment slip and that I looked like the photo on my passport.
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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Chunky Monky » Sat Jan 18, 2020 4:56 pm

I received mine earlier in the week and sent it back in the post. I'm wondering if that was a good idea, I've just had a message from my daughter thanking us for the Christmas card (posted six weeks ago!).

Anyway I think it is a Proof of life thing, really. Although if the remaining widow/widower tells porkies, it's no proof at all.

The interesting thing is my OH, who is seven years older than me and receiving a CS pension, hasn't received one. Maybe she'll get one in six weeks time!
CM

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Wicksey » Sun Jan 19, 2020 1:26 pm

Lavanda wrote::lol: I did ask the young woman I spoke with if the witness to my signature could be my OH and she said that it could be anyone.
I did wonder about that but got a friend to witness it in the end. I could be buried under the patio and my OH is happily forging and witnessing my signature and still receiving my pension :lol: :lol: The Western Union method is a better one for proof of ID (and you get 10 pounds as well :thumbup: )

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Free at Last » Sun Jan 19, 2020 2:38 pm

It doesn't seem very cost effective for the pension scheme, though, to be paying 10 pounds to every overseas pensioner just to prove their ID (plus any additional admin fee Western Union may charge to the sender).

The method my husband's County Council pension scheme uses (a form which has to be signed by a bank, lawyer, doctor or similar and have their official stamp affixed) seems reasonably secure to me, as he has to attend in person and present his passport as ID in order for them to sign it.

MyCSP allowing anyone, even the partner of the pensioner, to sign does seem pretty lax.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby GerryinCajiz » Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:17 pm

My county council have a similar method, I get my pharmacist to sign and stamp. This has been accepted now for several years.
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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Free at Last » Mon Jan 20, 2020 2:58 pm

The County Council also send the form via email as well as allowing it to be returned via that method - much better, imo, than them spending money on postage and having letters take weeks to reach the people they are addressed to, like this recent example from MyCSP where they were sent out on Christmas Eve.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby peteroldracer » Mon Jan 20, 2020 3:40 pm

Bulk emailing needs to have check mails sprinkled through the list, to arrive at a monitoring destination, as a check that the mail has not only gone but has been received. Fulfilment houses look for the best deals for postage, and surprisingly big savings can be made by looking for the best deal, which could be sending the letters in bulk to Belgium for example. Better still they can use a mailing house abroad that takes the data file, prints the letter and encloses it then mails it. This obviously takes a little longer, but for non-urgent mail can save a lot of money.
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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby GerryinCajiz » Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:29 pm

Thanks for that Peter, now I know why sometimes they are franked as coming from Malta!
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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Mon Jan 20, 2020 5:58 pm

And France. My BarclayCard bill comes via France and I always wondered why.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Wicksey » Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:02 pm

I received an automated email from mycsp about the declaration of entitlement 5 days after emailing their form back to them.

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Re: UK Civil Service Pensions post Brexit

Postby Lavanda » Sun Jan 26, 2020 4:15 pm

Same here, Wicksey.


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